Waking the Red Dragon: Could the Welsh Break Up with Britain? | Foreign Correspondent

Waking the Red Dragon: Could the Welsh Break Up with Britain? | Foreign Correspondent

Show Video

in Wales something remarkable is happening [Music] [Applause] [Music] the Welsh are finding their voice and demanding to be heard [Music] people will look at the UK around them they look at brexit and the fact that they have to choose between eating and Heating they look at the Constitutional crisis in Northern Ireland in Scotland let us give thanks to the Lord our God and they think why couldn't Wales be better than this surely Wales can be better than this [Music] they were promised a better Britain but after years of political upheaval the people here have had enough [Music] this minster is a show at the moment if anyone out there thinks Westminster is doing a great job they must work in Westminster they should all be socks and all of us should take over there is no Great Britain anymore it's just sad sad Britain [Music] as discontent grows a centuries-old union could be at risk of unraveling [Music] this was an argument once settled with bloodshed here at harlech Castle in the 15th century Owen glendor the last native born Prince of Wales led a revolt against the English he was defeated in the end but those hopes for an independent whales haven't died are now a new Independence Movement is gaining ground does whales really have what it takes to leave the UK and go It Alone [Music] [Applause] [Music] until we have a free Wheels all nations are the right to self-determination thank you [Music] on a chilly Saturday morning in wrexham a working-class city near the English border Adam Phillips a staunch nationalist is braving the coal my earliest memories is my mother telling me that the prince of England isn't our Prince we'd see them on tally and she'd say they're not your royal family I was taught from a very early age my own history with us my friends in school they'd be like who cares well it's my Pablo everyone can be abandoned the knee where the Camry band the military we're going to play some Welsh tunes and uh we're gonna March around the area so we hope that you enjoy our set [Music] describe yourself as an amateur historian I'm a band leader I run a Camry band I'm also a radio DJ I do 10 hours worth of bilingual radio so my job I see in my own mind is to promote Wales to the world wherever possible by playing Welsh songs and carrying Welsh Flags he's hoping to remind people who they are and where they are I always felt our history has had inequality our language is that inequality our people of either inequality we're the original people that were on this island we feel very Celtic we feel very in with you know the Scots and the Alice and the Cornish it's important that we're not just assimilated Adam didn't always express his nationalism with a drum he used to walk the streets with a loudspeaker preaching about Welsh history and his hopes for a sovereign state he probably thought I was a Nutter you know they probably thought I was right out there what is this guy doing support for Independence has never been the majority view in Wales but polls show that sentiment is shifting all right some surveys suggest up to 30 percent of the population wants out of the UK last year thousands demonstrated at Independence rallies across Wales for Adam it was proof that his views were no longer Fringe but becoming mainstream told me with a sense of Pride really to be in the middle of something that scene is positive you're not crazy anymore you're just out there with I wouldn't say the majority but with a large swathe and a growing sway the people that feel the same [Music] yeah you got some banners out might need a third person then cool yeah if you go up there Mike one of the forces behind the rallies is yes Camry a Grassroots organization with branches across Wales 27 year old Kieran Thomas is one of its leaders in wrexham yes I'm just hoping to get some beeps some thumbs up people passing by sometimes people walk up and ask questions but it's just to be seen really and to show that the movement's in wrexham that's the that's the idea [Music] there we go started already it's not exactly scientific but judging by their car horn survey they think they're on the right track foreign they see the conservatives in Westminster who've been in power there for 13 years now criminalizing protests cutting benefits I think this isn't the future I want this is not what I'm voting for and me and my family and my children my grandchildren will be better off if Wales could choose its own path and could choose a better future Kieran says for Generations people have grown up with the belief that Wales is too weak to leave the union people are going to have those questions though aren't they about how an independent whales could support itself what do you tell them I'm really excited when we get asked these questions and when we have to think about the future a lot of people have been sort of drip fed the fact that Wales is too small or too poor to be independent we're blessed with water and wind and we're the fifth largest net exporter of electricity in the world at the moment and but obviously a lot of that we don't see the benefits of we don't see the profits from after a day of campaigning we're off to the pub and this is what a Welsh speaking Pub isn't yeah it's a Welsh language Center but you don't have to speak Welsh to go into the pub so you'll be all right that's just as well the Scythe Sirens become one of the favorite watering holes for wrexham's younger Indie crowd [Music] [Applause] [Music] tonight the pub is celebrating Welsh language music day I figure it's a perfect chance for me to be brave and try out some of my Welsh hello deal that I got it centuries of assimilationist practices by the English pushed the Welsh language known as kamrag towards Extinction but in recent years there's been a major push to preserve it cheers with a national goal to have one million Welsh speakers by 2050. I think it's worth remembering that there was previously a lot of persecution around the world language as well I mean you look at the Welsh knot and that was a system where if you were caught speaking Welsh in school you'd have this knot and then if you had them not the end of the day then you would get beaten and so I think that that is like another aspect in our history that did happen and I think that that played a part in sort of wiping the language out of it as well kieran's friend Becca Martin is standing at the next UK general election representing plaid Camry a pro-independence party like Kieran Becker didn't grow up speaking Welsh they're now learning and hoping to become fluent but they say language shouldn't deter people from joining the course you don't have to speak well if you're interested in independent and you call Wales your home you are welcome I think it's really important that people in December [Music] thank you this is snowdonia in the country's Northwest and valleys have long been a Haven for the Welsh language and for the independence movement [Music] is a Welsh language folk singer and a national icon [Music] he's put his retirement plans on hold 40 years after it was written his song Emma or hid has become an Anthem for the national football team [Music] track for the new push for Independence [Music] [Music] this is what was once kappel Kellen in the trowarin valley a place that is critical in Welsh modern history foreign beneath these Waters lies the remains of a village that was drowned in 1965 to secure a water supply not for whales but for England at the time David was living in the town next door interested no lives were lost but There Was An Almighty fight despite Fierce opposition The welsh-speaking Village was flooded because politicians in Westminster held all the power foreign that sense of Injustice propelled David into politics and activism in the 1970s he went to prison after defacing road signs written in English as part of a campaign to protect the Welsh language today while still a source of outrage true errands taken on a different sort of significance for David and symbol on foreign the drowning of kappel Kellen helped put Wales on the path to self-governance in 1997 the Welsh held a referendum on Devolution where the Westminster should transfer some legislative powers to Wales by the slimmest of margins people voted yes for more autonomy people of Wales have shown that they can believe in themselves two years later the Welsh assembly today known as the senath was born [Music] while it now controls many key areas of Welsh life including health education and agriculture for the most part Westminster still holds the purse strings [Music] for whales to truly Thrive David insists it needs a clean break foreign foreign foreign [Music] issues Wales is grappling with is poverty child poverty is the worst of all the UK Nations the figures are one in three many people here were already Under Pressure following a decade of austerity but throw in economic shocks like brexit covert and soaring inflation many people here are struggling to survive in the county of flintshire you can see that struggle on the streets areas like this used to get EU funding to help tackle disadvantage even still the people here like the majority of Wales voted to leave the European Union the promises of a brighter more prosperous Britain haven't materialized and that's fueling disillusionment with Westminster [Music] thank you every Monday Lynn thwaite along with hundreds of other people gather at Saint Peter's church for a hot meal today she's here with her two-year-old grandson Elliot let's see I've never been in poverty and it's awful that you have to come to a place like this to get yourself a bit of luxury yesterday we were all out in blankets yesterday instead of putting the gas on just hunt them off really isn't it you know your friends I think the hardest commandment in the gospel is do not worry about tomorrow how's your month been I wonder at 28 years old father Dominique Cordell is the youngest priest in the church in Wales he says while there's always been poverty in this area things are getting worse really we're seeing people who have never had to access support like this before people who who are perhaps in work and are struggling you know we have a lot of people that come who are also working it's not that you know people aren't aren't trying I lost the folk here are trying very hard to do well and and so there's a sense of Shame and failure if for a lot of people that come I think thank you very much Sarah godson is this something that you ever thought you would be relying on no I really didn't no it's it's just like I say most weeks it's it's embarrassing but now it's just the way of life now isn't it concern over entrenched poverty has prompted the Archbishop of the church in Wales to come out in favor of Independence Lynn doesn't know if that would fix her problems but she says something has to change there is no Great Britain anymore it's just sad sad sad Britain they should all be sacked and all of us should take over foreign isn't just fueling disenchantment in the towns and cities I've come to the Eda Valley near better secoid in the north of the country where many farmers are bearing the brunt of a post-brexit Wales [Music] this Valley does everyone speak Welsh primarily yes I can go weak sometimes without speaking any English they were promised they'd be better off outside the EU and many farmers did vote to leave [Music] but Becca Glenn voted to remain [Music] then um and all the bladeless other honestly kid and got lots more hypothesis [Applause] three years after the UK left the EU the effects of brexit are taking a toll on the farm she runs with her dad Glenn they've lost unrestricted access to one of their biggest and nearest export markets [Music] [Applause] um brexit Welsh Farmers also rely heavily on subsidies support payments from the EU used to make up about 80 of their incomes and despite promises from Westminster the Welsh government says by next year the sector will be more than 200 million pounds worse off Becca says an independent Wales is now the only answer Ed up in the far south of Wales is Cardiff the country's capital [Music] while there's a conservative government in Westminster in the Welsh Parliament labor has always held power but it's no supporter of Independence I've come to meet Vaughn gething the man in charge of the Welsh economy in these troubled times so I think Independence would automatically make Wales A poorination now some people will say that's a price well worth paying to be independent to be Sovereign is a price worth paying that's exactly the argument the people who still believe in brexit have made that it doesn't matter because sovereignty trumps all why should Wales stay in the Union what are the benefits I see the Union as being something that gives us a greater sense of security it gives us a greater sense of a call on shared resources and shared risks but with Scotland again agitating for Independence and Rumblings for the reunification of Ireland the Welsh government is preparing for the potential of a shifting political landscape so it's created an independent commission co-chaired by Professor Laura McAllister to help map out the future for Wales it's already found the status quo isn't working um I I guess you could conclude that Welsh people are thinking well why couldn't we do it better ourselves with more Powers there's a greater sense of Welsh identity more generally especially amongst younger people so if you put all of that together it's quite a kind of potent cocktail really the commission has also found Independence is a viable option that should now be more closely considered clearly our economy is um is poorer and big chunks of the rest of the United Kingdom now there's an argument to say that that's been based on governmental decisions over the centuries as much as it has of any intrinsic weakness within the Welsh economy But ultimately the choice of becoming Independence is one that people could take anywhere in the world Any Nation could take as long as they're aware of implications Welsh labor says staying in the union but with increased Welsh power should be the priority there's still an overwhelming majority in favor of whales staying within the union that's why we've got a commission to look at a range of those options we're going with the green and Welsh public opinion back in wrexham it's eerily quiet then a slow Rumble from behind the walls of the world's oldest International football stadium and welcome to the Racecourse ground floor this afternoon's valorama National League clash between wrexham and wheelzone [Music] the city's once struggling football club has a new lease on life after being bought by Hollywood a-listers Ryan Reynolds and Rob mceleney I've been using their star power to put Wales firmly in the spotlight we used to get thousands of steer 4000 before now we're getting crowds of ten thousand you'll see them start singing and chanting I'll be singing you more ahead they might start singing it somewhere in the middle and then uh possibly at the end today wrexham AFC is facing the English side Wilston and Adam Phillips has invited me along the atmosphere is electric and the fans are colorful [Applause] with the freak you count the left-hand side probably [Applause] rexham is the third oldest football club in the world and fans hope they'll end the season at the top of the National League first step to reclaiming their former glory and then onto the Ultimate Dream the Premier League [Applause] hopefully we'll go up the season unfortunately in our league only one only one team gets guarantee promotion the final minute Goldie flicks it on into the path to James Jones can it be three with a minute on the clock the Red Dragons drive home a third goal defeating Wilston 3-1 [Applause] people say politics and football shouldn't mix their football was made for politics as rexham Rises From the Ashes it's clear that for many here an old relegated football club on the up has come to symbolize a whole nation basically either was just a nation it's a language as a culture but we're still here despite everyone and everything [Music] foreign

2023-04-04 05:53

Show Video

Other news